Founded in 2008, the Energy Institute at the City College of New York was created to develop innovative, sustainable energy technologies that have practical and economical applications. The institute is led by Sanjoy Banerjee, CUNY Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering at the Grove School of Engineering.
Banerjee brought to the Energy Institute a wealth of experiences in the public, private sector and academic appointments at McMaster University, University of California, Berkeley and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Led by the Chemical Engineering faculty at the Grove School of Engineering, the institute faculty and affiliates hold appointments at Hunter College, Brooklyn College, Queens College, Queensborough Community College with appointments in chemistry, physics, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering.
“The Institute is not confined to engineering, but it just happens in practice that most of the faculty associated with the institute are engineering,” Banerjee said.
The institute is well positioned for CUNY faculty and students to benefit from the cutting-edge training and collaborative synergistic strengths across the university. It is not uncommon to meet a student who participated in a community college research program who continues with an institute faculty or affiliate at City College or one of the other senior colleges.
The three major areas covered at the institute are nuclear engineering, oil and gas, and energy storage.
Associate Director and Professor of Mechanical Engineering Masahiro Kawaji is actively involved in the nuclear and oil and gas pillars of the institute. He served as the PI of NSF’s Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) project, “Multi-scale, Multi-phase Phenomena in Complex Fluids for the Energy Industries” which was completed in 2024. The research area is of considerable importance to the energy industry and offered opportunities for collaboration and the training of students with institutions in Germany, Norway and France.
The nuclear energy program trains students and graduates on essential and practical skills to use at nuclear power plants. The Grove School of Engineering (GSOE) also has the only Nuclear Engineering concentration offered in the tri-state area. Research on reactor safety, simulations, and waste relies heavily on the expertise of professors Kawaji, Banerjee, and Taehun Lee.
Over the 17 years of operation, the institute has launched three commercial ventures —Voltaiq in 2012 focused on software solution that accelerates battery development, Urban Electric Power, in 2013 focused on rechargeable batteries for solar integration, power backup, grid support and storage and the most recent Alpha-En in 2018, manufacturing of lithium-metal batteries at room temperature.
Urban Electric Power has also served as a place for full time and part time employment for GSOE graduates. VoltaIQ has periodically offered fellowships and internships to students and hires many CUNY students upon graduation. Both companies also offers CUNY a discounted price for their software, which is used by the institute.
The estimated $60 million in funding received is split between the three pillars with half focused on energy storage, and the remaining $30 million split between nuclear and oil and gas. Institute funding has come from the NSF, NYSERDA, the DOE and partnership with Con Edison.
An area of current interest is AI-driven control systems, which would use artificial intelligence to analyze data and make recommendations on how to optimize a system’s performance.
“We are also starting to look at AI for material discovery,” notes Banerjee.
Emma is an undergraduate student at Baruch College, where she is studying Journalism and Psychology. She’s Editor-in-Chief for Dollars & Sense magazine and Business Editor for The Ticker newspaper. As well as a freelance writer at BK Reader.